– It was announced yesterday that Jamie McMurray will take over the No. 1 car for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing next year. I say congratulations to Mr. McMurray. I like knowing that people have jobs. This leads me to think about another driver that I think should have a ride next year and that would be David Gilliland. I think Joe Gibbs Racing should take on a 4th team and that team should be for David. It’d be awesome. 
– NFL star Junior Seau has a new TV show called “Sports Jobs With Junior Seau.” Before Seau decided to come back to the NFL he filmed this original series for VERSUS about the people working behind the scenes of major sports leagues. In the December 23rd episode Seau tries his hand at being a pit crew member for IndyCar Series driver Scott Dixon. Check your local listings.
– Mike Rowe, host of the super grody show “Dirty Jobs,” will be the Grand Marshal of this weekend’s Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. I love Mike Rowe because he does muck around in all of the muck on his show, and he has an awesome voice. AND he used to host a local TV show here in the San Francisco Bay Area so he’s sentimental fave. I’m glad he’s doing really well.
– NASCAR Sprint Cup driver David Ragan surprised three Daytona International Speedway season ticket holders with free tickets to the 2010 Daytona 500 in February. There were pictures and I felt the need to post them.
Daytona International Speedway President Robin Braig, left, joined UPS driver Robert Clopton and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver of the Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 UPS Ford David Ragan to present longtime season ticket holder Ben Allen and his wife with their tickets for the 52nd annual Daytona 500 at their home Tuesday. (Photo Credit: Jerry Markland/Daytona International Speedway)
Longtime season ticket holder Mike Bruno Jr., right, poses with his tickets to Feb. 14’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 and driver of the No. 6 UPS Ford, David Ragan on Tuesday as Ragan hand-delivered him tickets for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 on Feb. 14, 2010. (Photo Credit: Jerry Markland/Daytona International Speedway)
When he opened his front door, longtime Daytona International Speedway season ticket holders Jim Barron and his wife Char were in for a surprise — NASCAR Sprint Cup series driver of the No. 6 UPS Ford, David Ragan. Ragan, who stopped in Daytona Beach before heading down to Homestead-Miami Speedway for this weekend’s final races of the season, presented tickets to Barron for the 52nd annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 14, 2010. (Photo Credit: Jerry Markland/Daytona International Speedway)
Sunday’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil at Phoenix International Raceway was boring and I’m not saying that because Jimmie Johnson won. I’m saying it because it was boring, and the drama that involved Dale Earnhardt Jr. did not help things, like, at all.
Or maybe I thought it was boring because I was too caught up in trying on the dress I bought for the Sprint Cup Awards Ceremony. On Saturday, I went dress shopping with my mom and missed all of the Denny Hamlin/Brad Keselowski hullabaloo from the Nationwide race. On Sunday, I bought my dress, after starting with 10 contenders I found “the one” half an hour before the race started, and I really, really like it. I have to be honest, until I leave for Vegas this is all I’m going to be thinking about. I’m over Jimmie, and I’ve made peace with Dale’s season (Is it 2010 yet??!). I’m all about Champion’s Week; I’m counting down the days!
In other news…
– It’s safe to search the site again. There were issues with the Google Custom Search getting hijacked, but I’ve updated the code and the coast is clear.
And now, Phoenix photo fun time after the jump! (more…)
I’m going to the Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway next weekend. I’m leaving home on Thursday to drive down to La La Land. I’m really looking forward to it, and I’m not sure what to expect. I love that about going to races; I always wonder in advance what’s going to happen even though that’s impossible to know.
So here’s some news as it relates to the races at Fontana. Audrina Patridge of MTV’s “The Hills” fame will be the honorary starter of the Pepsi 500. While I am not a fan of people who become famous for just being themselves, I think Audrina is trying to be a real actress now, so I’ll give her that.
Kelly Osbourne, daughter of Ozzie & Sharon Osbourne, will be the honorary starter of the Copart 300, the Nationwide Series race. Kelly is currently a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars,” where she already managed to make her mom cry during her first dance because she looked like “lady.” It was a really cute moment. I just hope she brings Ozzie with her because it would be soo cool to see Ozzie Osbourne at a NASCAR race.
Oh and “Honorary Starter” means that they get to wave the green flag to start the race, in case that wasn’t clear.
ESPN on ABC’s Countdown pre-race show could have been oh, I dunno, about 45 minutes shorter than its scheduled full hour. I am an ESPN fan, truly, but I can’t take the pre-show anymore. The only useful things are the 5 second driver interviews and that’s about it.
There are no features, no special interviews, nothing. Why does it need to be an hour? I don’t wanna see a recap of the last race I saw it already. And if I didn’t see it on TV I caught up on it online. So there’s no need to rehash the whole thing. And please, for the love of God, stop asking Rusty Wallace his opinion on who can win the Championship. I’m sure he’s a very nice man, and obviously he has a lot of NASCAR knowledge but sometimes I don’t know where he’s coming from. (more…)
So I have to thank Andrew Giangola, he’s the Business Communications Director for NASCAR and he was at the races in Richmond this weekend. He sent me the awesome photos of Tom Cruise that I used in my last post and he sent me these super great pics of the band All-American Rejects performing before the start of the Chevy Rock & Roll 400.
Andrew got to meet the guys in AAR and told me about it which left me completely jealous. I think the band’s lead singer, Tyson Ritter, is a super cutie and we’re totally gonna get married he just doesn’t know it yet. I’m sure once he finds out he’ll be fine.
Anywhooo, I don’t think these photos need much more of an intro. Can AAR make a trip to the Pepsi 500 in October? Yes? Please? Maybe?
Double-platinum recording artists The All-American Rejects provided pre-race entertainment for the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway. (Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
(photo credit: Andrew Giangola)
(photo credit: Andrew Giangola)
Why the heck has he been at so many races this year? It’s common knowledge that Tom Cruise starred in the 1990 film Days of Thunder which was set in the world of stock car racing. Tom and various members of his family have been seen at NASCAR races a lot this year. He was in Daytona for the 500, and I spied his son, Connor, tagging along with Rick Hendrick at the Auto Club 500. Since then Tom, his wife Katie Holmes & their daughter Suri were at Infineon, and now this past weekend at Richmond Tom, Connor and Tom’s mom, Mary, were on hand.
Maybe it’s just because he narrated the Hendrick Motorsports documentary Together: The Hendrick Motorsports Story, which airs on October 11 on ABC before the start of the Pepsi 500. Maybe this is some sort of subliminal promotion for the documentary since a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the DVD will benefit the Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. (more…)
